Back To Haunt You
by WordsAreTrivial
Summary: SEQUEL to Redemption. What happens when the ghosts of Damon's past come back to haunt him? How will the gang react to the new threats facing them? Read and find out! Rated M as this one might get a little 'steamy' in parts - nothing too excessive, but just in case! *On Hiatus - I will finish this, I've just completely lost inspiration for it at the moment, sorry!*
1. Empire State Of Mind

**A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of Back To Haunt You. This is the sequel to Redemption so if you haven't read that then what're ya doin' here? Go – read Redemption first!  
I'm posting this first chapter today and now I'm going away on a little trip for a week but I just wanted to give you all a little taster! Welcome back and I hope to hell you enjoy the ride.  
I still don't own TVD and it still sucks to be me. **

**Empire State Of Mind**

"**Big lights will inspire you  
Let's hear it for  
New York"**

_**Previously On The Vampire Diaries:  
**__"So, New York" Damon mused to Stefan, "uh-huh" he replied with a laugh. _

"_Should be fun" they both said at the same time before following their girls to the car. _

**Elena's POV**

Stefan had been driving for 10 minutes and they'd just passed the _'You Are Now Leaving Mystic Falls'_ sign when Katherine started grumbling.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't just fly" she moaned for the tenth time.

Elena burst out laughing and raised her eyebrows at Damon in an 'I told you so' manner and Stefan huffed audibly.

"It's a _road _trip Kat – by definition it involves roads" he explained, probably also for the tenth time.

"And let's not forget whose great idea this road trip was in the first place" Damon quipped from his seat in the back beside Elena.

"Yeah yeah" Katherine replied rolling her eyes and flicking through radio stations trying to find a song suitable to her tastes.

"How'd we draw the short straw anyway?" Damon asked Elena, indicating his cramped position in the back of Stefan's car.

"Um...we kinda blew up your little blue baby, remember?" Elena replied with a laugh "Stefan's car – Stefan's rules" she added with a grin.

"Yeah" Damon responded desolately "Remind me to buy myself a car that's better than this piece of junk when we get home please."

"Hey now brother, no hating on the classic just 'cause you set fire to your own" Stefan said with a laugh earning him a glare from Damon.

All joking aside Elena couldn't remember ever being happier. Damon was home, they had fought through hell to bring him back and here he was; sitting beside her in the flesh. A part of her for all eternity, and an eternity they had to share together now.

There were no looming threats, no impending sacrifices, no curses and no dark shadows lurking around corners waiting for them. Just an eternity of opportunities, of love, of time, of togetherness and it was more than she could have ever dreamed of.

Elena couldn't help but remember the previous road-trip she and Damon had taken together to New York – her emotions had been off and she had been...less than pleasant towards him. But she was definitely going to make it up to him this time and she was looking forward to experiencing the Big Apple as a fully switched on vampire. She'd truly embraced her new life and shed herself of her old; with Damon by her side she couldn't think of any reason why she _wouldn't _want to be a vampire.

He'd been right when he told her that he'd "_never seen her more alive_" – death had truly brought the life out in her. It had released her from the expectations and rules set by 'normal' human life, the expectations she'd held herself to, it had allowed her to embrace the darker parts of herself but to find a balance that remained pure. Something she would never have allowed herself to do if she'd stayed human. Elena knew that she really was like Damon in a lot of ways; the only difference now was that she wasn't afraid to admit it.

**Damon's POV**

As Elena stared out of the window watching the scenery fly by and lost in her thoughts Damon couldn't tear his eyes from her.

He'd missed her more than he ever thought possible while he'd been, dead-dead, and now he was home he loved her more than he'd ever thought possible as well. A lot of that had been her doing, watching her fade away, unable to cope with his death, watching her fight every obstacle head on to bring him home, seeing her complete lack of hesitation upon finding out that his life would be intrinsically tied to her own, and her words since he'd come back to her.

"_...And I'm sorry Damon, for the things I've said to you, for the ways I've hurt you. But you need to know...you're it for me Damon. You. Are. It. No one else. It's always gonna be __**you **__Damon. Forever"_

He finally understood, and believed, that Elena loved him for all he was worth and that to her he was worth everything. For the first time in his 173 years, Damon Salvatore was truly loved, she wasn't going to run away from him, she wasn't going to change her mind, she wasn't going to run back to his brother – not that she'd have much of a chance now anyway with Katherine back in the picture he thought to himself wryly. No, she was his. He belonged to her. And she belonged to him, as he'd always known that she would.

It didn't do anything to change the fact that Damon had still sent Bonnie and Caroline on what was more than likely a wild goose chase searching for a way to unbind his life from hers. No matter what she said about being unable to spend eternity without him, and he understood that, truly he did because if anything ever happened to Elena – well he wouldn't be long for this world. But Damon refused to allow **his** past, his mis-deeds, his wrongs to come back and hurt her. He wouldn't let that happen. So although he knew he probably didn't have a lot of choice – he had to _try_ – for Elena.

"Are you two alive back there?" Stefan's voice broke through Damon and Elena's collective reveries earning him a laugh from both.

"Are we there yet?" Elena asked giddily.

"What are you twelve?" responded Katherine with a smirk to which Elena just stuck her tongue out.

Stefan grinned at both girls "Another ten minutes" he assured them.

"So..." Damon spoke up "What's first on the agenda? I vote for anything that doesn't involve tourist attractions and _does_ involve copious amounts of liquor" he said with a smirk.

Elena playfully swatted him on the arm "Hey – I want to do tourist-"

"El-ay-na" Katherine interjected, "you have an _eternity _to do 'touristy' things – this is about **fun**. Y'know, shopping, drinking, partying, dancing – fun" she reiterated.

"Girl knows what she's talking about" Damon agreed with a wink at Elena.

Elena turned to Stefan for back-up but he just raised his hands briefly and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, fine" Elena said with a mock-glare "But _you_" she pointed her finger at Damon "are going to have to bring me back **again**to do 'touristy' things."

"Whatever you say 'Lena" Damon replied leaning over and kissing her fully on the lips, both Katherine and Stefan were forgotten as they got lost in each other's mouths, Damon's hands pulling Elena ever closer to him and caressing her back, arms, fingers tugging in her hair and eliciting small moans of pleasure from her.

All too soon the spell was broken by the incessant coughing of Stefan and giggling of Katherine.

"Yeah um...whenever you guys are...done – we're here" Stefan said with a laugh as Elena pulled back with a slightly guilty expression on her face.

Damon shrugged briefly and was out of the car in a flash, rushing around to help Elena out of her side before grabbing her in a crushing hug, he bent her down and gave her another searing kiss before setting her upright.

"Welcome to New York, baby" he said opening his arms as far as he could spread them and grinning widely.

**So first chapter – don't forget to give me love. In the form of reviews. I will also accept Damon Salvatores if anyone has any of those! Love it? Hate it? Let me know! See you in a week!**


	2. Feel So Close

**A/N: Thank you all very much for the feedback so far. Although I have been to N.Y a few times there was no way I could do the hotels/nightclubs justice so it's mostly an amalgamation of my research and my imagination! Also I have no idea about the whole birthday thing, but TVD universe seems to pass time very quickly so for the purposes of this story – this is how it's going to work. You'll have to read and find out though! I own nothing – all rights to those who do. **

**Feel So Close**

"**I feel so close to you right now  
It's a force-field"**

**Elena's POV**

Elena laughed happily at the expression on Damon's face; he looked as if he was a king introducing his queen to her city.

"Come on lovebirds" Katherine called over her shoulder "I'd like to get started on that fun we talked about" she said with a grin at Elena. Elena rolled her eyes and grabbed Damon's hand pulling him along behind her towards Katherine and Stefan, following them into the massive hotel.

Elena stopped in the lobby, pausing for a moment to take in the space around her and turning to look at Damon with an awed expression on her face.

"Only the best for my girl" Damon explained with a laugh wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her to the lift.

If Elena thought the expensive marble and golden chandeliers in the lobby were magnificent she was in no way prepared for the suite Damon had arranged for their stay. Set on two floors the French windows directly overlooked Central Park and were draped in ornately decorated thick cream and golden curtains. Everywhere she looked was golden, from the edges of the mirror adorning the marble fireplace to the fabric lacing the ornate antique furniture in the sitting room.

Wandering up the stairs and reaching out to touch everything she could with her fingers Elena took in the bedroom silently, admiring the lush looking bed dressed in crisp white, laced in gold of course.

"It's not as big as our bed" she said playfully turning to look at Damon and speaking for the first time since entering the suite.

Damon barked a laugh and rushed over to her pulling her down on top of him on the bed. "I think you'll find it's plenty big enough" he teased her.

Bending down Elena pressed her mouth to his, her hair enveloping them, Damon moaned lightly as her tongue found his before tearing his mouth away briefly to pull her top off before they lost themselves in each other again.

"Can we just stay he-"

"Elena come **on" **Katherine interrupted Damon's question from the bottom of the stairs causing him to groan loudly.

Elena laughed and jumped up off of Damon, pulling her top back on in a flash.

"That's what you get for not locking the door" she cautioned Damon wisely causing him to groan again and mumble incoherently under his breath.

"Don't you have a boyfriend to...molest or something Kat?" he asked when he finally pulled himself away from the bed and began descending the stairs behind Elena.

"Not when we have shopping and girl talk to attend to Damon" Katherine tutted at him, "plenty of time for that later – time to go Elena, come on!" she demanded before turning on her expensive black boots and walking to the door.

Elena shrugged resignedly at Damon before turning back to give him a final lingering kiss.

"Go – have fun with your brother" she instructed him "we'll have fun later" she promised with a cheeky smile before following Katherine out of the door. She smiled as she heard Damon's low moan from behind the door.

Elena and Katherine had been wandering the streets of New York aimlessly for two hours, pausing to go in and out of various shops and chattering happily about their men, their lives and the journey they had been on that had brought them to this place together.

Elena still marvelled at the progress in Katherine, in the way that her doppelganger had become one of her best friends and they both smiled and joked at the longing and often bewildered stares they received from passers – by. When anyone asked they just responded that they were identical twins and that had given Katherine her 'diabolical' idea as she quipped to Elena.

Elena had laughed when Katherine said they should try and trick Damon and Stefan tonight but after Katherine's incessant talking she'd finally given in and agreed to go along with her game. If there was anything she had learned it was that it was notoriously difficult to talk Katherine out of anything so it was easier to just go along with her. And Elena was fairly confident that they wouldn't be able to trick the boys for long anyway.

After another hour or so they'd picked out outfits for the night and with handfuls of shopping bags they decided to return to the hotel for drinks before getting ready.

**Damon's POV**

Damon remained in the suite for a few minutes after Elena left the room with Katherine, smiling to himself at the recent playfulness in Elena's character. Something that had been severely lacking in recent years. He'd picked up on it at various times over the course of their relationship, most noticeably in Atlanta and during their perfect Summer together before she'd left for college but all the heart-ache and never-ending supernatural drama had taken its toll on Elena over the years and it thrilled him no end to see her finally getting some of her light-hearted nature back.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts Damon went in search of his brother, finding him in the middle of the hallway between their rooms.

"Great minds?" Damon quipped to Stefan who nodded in response.

"Bar?" Stefan asked.

"You have to ask?" Damon replied before the brothers headed out of the hotel and wandered a couple of blocks before finding a relatively quiet, dark bar to settle down in while they waited for the girls to be finished shopping.

At some point they'd reached the topic of Elena's birthday, her 19th was coming up in a couple of months and Damon wanted it to be perfect, reminding Stefan that her 18th hadn't exactly been the picnic it should have been. Although Damon didn't mention that part of that had been his own fault as well, something he still felt terrible about.

"You know I never apologised for that" Stefan said softly, "For Andie" he clarified.

"Quid pro quo brother, quid pro quo, it's all water under the bridge now" Damon replied evenly.

"Still...you cared for her" Stefan pressed.

"I did" Damon allowed. "Andie was a nice girl, clever head on her shoulders. Made me question things, look at things differently, she said something to me once; something very simple but equally profound that made me reconsider my outlook on...certain things" Damon trailed off lost in his thoughts for a few moments.

"What was it?" Stefan asked breaking him from his thoughts.

"Hmm. She said '_love does that Damon, it changes us_' and she was right. The only reason I got to where I am today is because of Elena's love, she changed me" Damon responded thoughtfully.

"I don't think she changed you Damon, I think she just helped you remember who you always were buried underneath all of your pain" his brother replied.

"Maybe" Damon conceded, "But Andie was still right, love does do that. Either way love did that for me" he said with a soft smile.

"No denying that brother" Stefan said with a smirk, "Elena's love is what brought it out of you almost from day one. I hated it for a while, I admit, but I couldn't hate it for long because she brought my brother back to me. I see now that it was always meant to be you and her..." Stefan paused for a moment reflecting on his words.

"Probably always meant to be me and Katherine as well" he continued, "not that I didn't love Elena, god I did...I still do on a purely platonic best friend level...but all those years I fooled myself into believing Katherine compelled me. It was easier that way. Life...was easier" he finished softly.

Damon nodded at his brother a couple of times before shaking himself off.

"All right enough of this mushy stuff, I'm starting to feel like a girl. Let's get drunk and shoot some pool what do ya say Stef?" he asked with a grin.

_2 Hours Later_

Elena and Katherine walked down the stairs of the suite in unison, looking every inch the identical twins they were portraying themselves to be and coming to a stop in front of both brothers silently. Damon rolled his eyes and Stefan groaned audibly.

"You've got to be kidding me" Stefan said with a laugh.

Both girls were dressed in black figure-hugging dresses, Katherine's covered in lace and Elena's adorned with shimmering crystals. Their hair fell down in soft curls framing their faces and identical black strappy high heels finished their looks. Both smiled the exact same soft smile at the brothers and refused to say a word.

For his part Damon stood stock still, an amused glint in his eye as he watched Stefan take a step forward, and then another, towards Elena. Before his brother made a total fool of himself Damon flashed behind Elena and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Ah-ah brother" he said to a confused looking Stefan with a smirk "wrong girl. This one" he added with a soft kiss to Elena's neck, "is all mine."

Elena twisted her head up to look at Damon "how do you always know?" she asked with a playful huff.

"Cause I'm a genius" Damon whispered teasingly in her ear causing her to shiver slightly.

Katherine mock-sighed at Stefan but he just complained about them being identical and it being nearly impossible to tell them apart, shooting half a glare at his brother before offering Katherine his arm and escorting her out of the room.

The couples made their way to an incredibly expensive, fashionable nightclub called Voltaire where they had no trouble getting through the door. They could have always compelled the door-staff to let them in but why bother when you had Elena and Katherine Damon had pointed out.

The nightclub was beautiful, covered with candlelight, disco balls, leather sofas and all the alcohol Damon could ask for.

"I think I could get used to this" Elena said to Damon during one of their many dances of the night.

"What, fun?" he replied with a laugh.

"Mmhmm" Elena replied with a soft smile.

"Hold that thought" Damon said before disappearing briefly, he returned and caught Elena by the waist, pulling her close into him as the beat of the song started.

"I may have...compelled...someone to play a little something for us" he whispered into her ear.

Elena looked up at him with love shining bright in her eyes as she listened to the song playing before throwing herself energetically around Damon and dancing her heart out.

"_**I feel so close to you right now, it's a force-field. I wear my heart upon my sleeve, like a big deal.  
You're love pours down on me; surround me like a waterfall and there's no stopping us right now.  
I feel so close to you right now."**_

"Let's go – **now **Damon" Elena demanded seductively when the song ended, turning on her expensive heels and leading the way.

Damon followed silently behind, who was he to argue with his girl?

"Bye-bye Damon, Elena" he heard Katherine giggle from somewhere behind him but he didn't bother to respond and neither did she.

The rest of the night was spent in a blur of tangled limbs and sheets, breathless kisses and passionate embraces. And one very broken antique vase.

**Enjoy? Hate? Review!**


	3. Time Of Your Life

**A/N: Thanks to everyone reviewing/following/favouriting etc! I do not own TVD – all rights to those who do. Just as an FYI I won't be updating this daily like I did with Redemption (sorry!) it will probably be more of a weekly/twice weekly type thing. That being said here's Chapter 3 a little earlier than I anticipated! Hope you enjoy our last day in New York! **

**Time Of Your Life**

"**It's something unpredictable but in the end is right  
I hope you had the time of your life"**

_The Last Night_

After 3 days spent partying like rock-stars and drinking until the sun came up the group were beginning to tire and Elena for one was ready to go home.

"There's just one last thing I want to do" Damon said to Elena, Katherine and Stefan as they sat in their suite trying to decide what to do on their last night.

"What's that?" Katherine responded

"Billy's" Damon said with a glance at Elena, "I'd like to go and...create some good memories in that place, since the last time I was there you know..."

Elena glanced up at Damon guiltily but he just squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Wait. What happened the last time?" Katherine demanded.

"Um...Rebekah may have snapped Damon's neck so we could steal his car so we could track you down so we could steal the cure...maybe because I tricked Damon...my emotions were off okay!" Elena snapped at Katherine who raised her hands in surrender and then giggled as Elena threw a cushion at her huffily.

"Right" Stefan interjected "So we go to Billy's – create some good memories...erase the...Elena-off mode ones" he teased with a laugh.

Damon and Elena nodded and Katherine grumbled her assent – she'd much rather go back to the club they'd been to on the first night but she was willing to go along with the plan if it made everyone else happy. _God how I've changed _she thought to herself with a smile.

**Damon's POV**

An hour or so later the group entered the club and Damon positioned himself at the bar beside Katherine while Elena and Stefan went off to dance somewhere.

"I wonder who owns this place now" Damon mused thoughtfully to Katherine but she just shrugged in response.

"The last time I was here, along with Elena being...well..._you_" Damon looked reproachfully at Katherine "I realised that all those years I spent looking for a way to rescue you, I was actually helping you run from me" he wasn't bitter about it anymore, things with Katherine were long since resolved but he figured it wasn't the worst idea to hash things out. They did live together now after all and it looked like they were stuck with each other for better or worse.

Katherine sat silently for a few minutes before responding.

"Damon it wasn't really about running from you..." she looked up at him, "Okay it was a little about running from you" she amended with a smile, "but mainly it was about running from Klaus. I couldn't let you know that I was alive; I couldn't let _anyone _know that I was alive. I was looking out for myself, we all know this. But I kept watch over you over the years you know that" she told him.

"Ah, no. You kept watch over Stefan" Damon clarified.

"Yes, well. Where Stefan was you were never too far behind" Katherine teased, "So I was watching over you by...default" she teased him.

"It's all good Kit-Kat, water under the bridge now" Damon finally replied quietly.

"What's going on over here?" Elena asked as she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing a kiss into his neck.

"Nothing exciting" Damon replied returning her kiss with one of his own, "just rehashing some old history" he explained to Elena.

**Elena's POV**

Elena raised her eyebrows briefly but then just shrugged it off, she wasn't in any way concerned or threatened by Katherine and Damon's relationship and she wanted them to be friends so if they needed to discuss their past to get there then that was fine by her. But not tonight.

Grabbing Damon's wrist she dragged him from his stool at the bar and pulled him along behind her.

"We're supposed to be creating good memories right?" she confirmed with him before wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself close to him, beginning to sway to the music playing in the background.

Everything around them fell away as they danced and held each other; the world was lost to them as they found bliss in each other's eyes and mouths. Elena wondered if it would always be like this, being with Damon, being consumed by Damon, not that she minded, she loved it in fact and she hoped it would always be like that. Somehow she felt like it would be. Damon just did that, he took over her completely and she'd happily spend the rest of her...eternity, wrapped in his arms. Were it not for the need to feed.

Neither Damon nor Elena, Katherine or Stefan fed on humans anymore, they'd all agreed that it was safest and in their best interests to drink solely from blood bags. Katherine was still helping Stefan keep himself under control although he was markedly improved. Elena smiled thinking about what a good influence Katherine was on Stefan and how ironic that thought was, he was much less broody these days.

"What'ya smilin' about?" Damon asked quietly reaching up to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Just thinking" Elena responded, "about you, Katherine, Stefan" she explained. "She's good for him, and I was thinking about how ironic that is. Katherine brings out the light in Stefan and..."

"And you bring out the light in me" Damon finished her sentence for her with a smile.

"Hmm" Elena responded under her breath although that wasn't exactly what she had been planning on saying. More that Damon brought out the light in _her. _

"Shall we go up to the roof?" she asked Damon with a wicked grin on her face.

"I really think I'm becoming a bad influence" Damon replied with a laugh before taking her hand and leading the way.

"Never" Elena mocked him.

When they reached the roof Elena stood and admired the skyline for a few minutes while Damon stood and admired her.

"I'm going to miss this" Elena said softly as Damon came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You're the one that wanted to go home" he teased her as he pressed soft kisses into her hair and neck.

"Mmm" Elena allowed herself to get lost in Damon's feather light kisses for a moment before returning to her thought process.

"I do want to go home" she said, "but it's been so...refreshing being here. We should definitely do more travelling" she said twisting her neck to look up at Damon.

"What, no more college?" Damon asked her.

"Nope" Elena replied. "I have an eternity for college, right now I just want to go home and spend some time with my family and friends and then I want to explore Damon. I want to see the world. I want adventure" she added with a teasing smile, flashing her eyes at him.

"How am I doing on the other stuff?" Damon asked seductively.

Turning herself around so she was facing Damon she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in closer.

"Oh I think you've got the consuming love, passion and danger down _just_ fine" she teased him.

Damon pulled a shocked face before placing his hand over his heart;

"Elena Gilbert I am hurt. I am the furthest thing from dangerous on this planet. You've got me all...domesticated" he teased her.

"Hah! So funny Salvatore" Elena replied laughing.

"Now shut up and kiss me" she demanded.

Damon rolled his eyes, "such hardship" he joked before lifting her off the ground and setting her down on the edge of the roof. His lips quickly found hers and she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him ever closer into her. He kept one hand securely on her back, she might be a vampire but he still didn't want her tumbling off the roof and his other hand tangled itself in her soft curls, Elena's hands slipped under his shirt and caressed his chest and back gently and they remained that way for what could have been hours before she finally broke away.

"Love...you" Elena said breathlessly with a glorious smile at Damon.

"Love" Damon pressed kisses into her forehead "You. Too" he replied.

"So...we good with the memories now?" Elena asked him.

"Yeah. We're good" Damon said with a grin. "Come on beautiful girl, time to go" he said as he helped her down from the ledge.

Damon and Elena found their way back to Katherine and Stefan and the group spent the next few hours getting increasingly drunk, Katherine and Elena danced while the boys watched and they chattered non-stop about travel plans and places they all wanted to go and see and the things they would do after spending some time in Mystic Falls. Everyone was excited about the future on this night.

By the time they all fell stumbling out of the club in the early morning each one was too drunk to be paying any attention to what was going on around them and so none of them overheard the words spoken by the people who had been watching the group all night.

"_Is that Damon Salvatore?" _

"_Yes"_

"_Let's Go"_


	4. Smack

**A/N: Thank you so much to the people following/reviewing etc. It means a lot! Here be chapter 4, hope you enjoy it. I do not own the Vampire Diaries, all rights to those who do. **

**Smack**

"**Don't you throw your life away  
Cause baby I can feel it"**

**Elena's POV**

Elena, Damon, Katherine and Stefan had been back in Mystic Falls for a week and everything was beginning to feel like it was back to normal, it had become home again and she'd been happy to reconnect with her friends and family now that the initial rush of having Damon back with her had worn off. She and Damon were as deliriously happy as ever, they still locked themselves in their bedroom each night and didn't surface until the morning but things were beginning to settle down again and Elena was thankful for that.

Living with Katherine and Stefan was proving to be fabulously fun, Stefan and Damon were getting along better than...well better than they ever had and Katherine had firmly inserted herself into their lives, fitting seamlessly, as if she'd always belonged there which Elena supposed she had, in a way. Even Katherine and Damon were getting along better, you couldn't quite call them best friends forever yet but Elena knew they were well on their way to that. Even Damon couldn't hold a grudge against her after everything she had done to help bring him home and the ways she had changed since.

Elena was pleased that despite the obvious changes in Katherine she was still very much the same girl personality-wise, she was still witty and sarcastic, catty at times, wickedly funny at others. Somehow it just fit better now because she allowed her humanity to show through, she was driven by her heart and her feelings these days instead of a basic instinct for survival so it meshed well together.

Tonight they were having a get-together with Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy and Ric. Damon was cooking up a storm in the kitchen and Elena was sitting on the counter watching him when the doorbell rang.

"They're here" she said as she jumped down from the counter pressing a quick kiss to Damon's cheek before flashing off to answer the door.

Pulling it open and looking at her friends she grinned,

"You could just walk in you know, you don't have to ring the doorbell" she teased.

"Well with you and Damon one never knows" Caroline giggled as she gave her friend a hug.

"Katherine, Stefan" Elena shouted up the stairs needlessly, "gang's here, come down."

"There has **got **to be a nickname in there somewhere" Damon muttered as he came out of the kitchen to greet his friends causing them to laugh.

Soon enough everyone was settled around the dining room table feasting on Damon's delicious Italian pasta, garlic bread and glasses of wine, or blood, as Jeremy had remarked to Bonnie, you couldn't really tell the difference.

The conversation flowed easily and laughter was the main ingredient of the night. Elena filled the group in on her and Damon's plans to go travelling around the world with Stefan and Katherine which everyone was excited about.

"When are you leaving?" Caroline asked slightly despondently, she'd been hoping her friend would come back to college now that Damon was home but she was still happy for her at the same time.

"After Elena's birthday" Damon answered abruptly. Elena gave him a surprised look but Damon just nodded and she didn't question him on the subject for the time being.

"Well where are you starting then?" Ric asked to break the tension that seemed to have filled the room all of a sudden, it was just the thing needed as Katherine launched into a conversation about the benefits of travelling the States before going to Italy as opposed to starting the trip in Italy as Stefan, Elena and Damon wanted to do.

While everyone was otherwise engaged in that conversation Elena began clearing the plates and motioned Damon to follow her to the kitchen.

"What was that about? My birthday?" she asked Damon quietly when they were alone.

"Nothing really" Damon responded, "I didn't mean to be rude, I just want to stick around for your birthday this year and I thought we could leave afterwards but I hadn't mentioned it to you yet" he said with another shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah because my last birthday here was **so **great" Elena replied a fraction bitterly as she put the plates down in the sink a little forcefully.

Damon placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a small squeeze before turning her round to face him; tilting her chin up so she was looking at him he pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Please, for me?" he asked softly, his blue eyes shining deeply into hers and making her forget everything for a minute.

"Hmm...What?" she mumbled, "Oh yeah, right. Okay then fine we'll go after my birthday" she gave in with a sigh and then stole past him to escape the kitchen and rejoin her friends.

"But _so_ unfair! The eye thing!" she tossed over her shoulder as she walked out the door causing Damon to burst out laughing.

The next day Elena was sitting in the living room with Katherine and Stefan poring over the hundred holiday brochures that Katherine had managed to pick up somewhere along the way and searching on the internet for destinations and things to see on their travels.

They'd finally convinced Katherine to start their open-ended trip in Italy; Elena was desperate to get out of the States and as the only one who'd never actually left the country the others had acquiesced to her wishes. Damon and Stefan had a family home in Tuscany where they would stay for a week or so before travelling around the rest of Italy.

Money was no object as the Salvatore brothers seemed to have a never-ending supply of it although Elena still wasn't sure where it all came from. Even Katherine seemed to have an endless pot of gold as well, it made Elena feel a little out of her depth but Damon had just said she was being silly when she had told him.

"_What's mine is yours, everything I have belongs to you" _he'd said _"so you have nothing to worry about. Besides I love spoiling you rotten – it's fun" _he'd added and he was so enthusiastic that Elena realised it didn't really matter at all.

When they'd finished in Italy they planned to spend some time seeing other places in Europe before coming home for a 'check-in' in between and deciding where to go from there. Elena was beyond excited about the possibilities.

Elena glanced at the clock for the tenth time in as many minutes when Katherine finally called her out on it.

"He'll be home soon Elena for heaven's sake, stop clock watching – looking at you is like watching paint dry" she teased.

Elena stuck her tongue out at Katherine; Damon had gone to the Grill hours ago to spend some 'alone' time with Ric, he'd been feeling a little guilty about not being there for his friend when he was learning to cope with being an 'enhanced' Original – something Elena was still unsure about the actual definition of – not that it was Damon's fault, he'd been...dead-dead after all as she had reminded him.

Still Elena couldn't help being nervous when Damon was away from her for long periods of time, she didn't know if that was the bond between them now, or the fact that he'd died, she just knew that she hadn't felt it to such an extent before that happened or before the spell. But he'd been gone for a few hours and she worried.

Just as she was about to call him Stefan looked over at her and smiled.

"See, here he is now" he said as Elena heard the car pull up outside. Katherine laughed as Elena sank back into the couch in relief.

"Oh don't start Kat, not like you don't get nervous when Stefan disappears for hours" she moaned at her friend.

"Hmph" was Katherine's only response but she turned and smiled at Stefan, giving him a quick kiss.

"For God's sake" Elena exclaimed jumping up off of the couch and striding to the front door, "What's he doing out there?" she asked as she pulled open the door.

In a blur of motion Elena collapsed to the floor screaming loud enough to wake the dead and clutching her side, blood pouring through her fingers. She continued screaming until one word came tumbling coherently out of her mouth.

"DAMON"


	5. Life Of My Own

**A/N: Thank you for reviews/follows etc. I do not own The Vampire Diaries. **

**Life Of My Own**

"**Living risky, Never scared  
Wander closer to the edge  
Freedom carries sacrifice  
Kiss me while I'm still alive"**

"_DAMON"_

Katherine bolted out of the door shouting frantically at Stefan to help Elena as she rushed outside.

Stefan flashed over to Elena's side with a panicked, stricken look on his face, bending down he helped her sit up and whispered softly to her.

"Shh, shh, it's all-right. It's going to be okay. Katherine's gone to help him. Are you okay?" he asked in a quiet, even tone that betrayed his panicked feelings.

Elena looked up at Stefan with tears streaming down her face, the wound was not healing so whatever had attacked Damon, _whoever_ had attacked Damon hadn't removed what was presumably a stake from his side.

"Blood" Elena managed to speak between sobs; "we need blood" she told Stefan who immediately rushed off to the basement.

Outside Katherine quietly approached someone poised behind Damon with a stake, Damon was lying on the ground trying to push himself up but the wood in his side was soaked in vervain and every time he tried to move the pain blinded him, just as he was sure he was about to die, and Elena with him, Katherine snapped the man's neck and pushed him out of the way. Grabbing the stake out of Damon's side she winced as it burned her hand but plunged it into the man's heart and they both watched as the tell-tale veins cropped up and he turned ash-grey.

**Damon's POV**

"I knew he was a vampire" Damon grumbled under his breath as he watched his side stitch itself back together. "Elena?" he demanded.

"Is fine" Katherine replied. "Stefan's taking care of her" she supplied.

"Do you know who this is?" she asked pointing the toe of her boot at the now dead vampire before turning and stalking back towards the house.

"No" Damon said as he hurried to catch up to her, "and if you hadn't just killed him right off the bat we could have found out" he snapped angrily.

"Oh well I'm so fucking sorry Damon" Katherine retorted with a snap, "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly considering the guy was about to stake you and my best friend was screaming bloody murder in the house!" she glared at him.

"And how could you be so stupid Damon? To let someone catch you off guard like that? Surely you can't be that drunk!" she said getting angrier by the second until she was practically spitting her words at him.

Damon let her take her rage out on him, he knew he deserved it and she was only behaving this way because she was so worried about Elena.

"I'm not drunk" Damon responded, "I was...thinking" he shook himself off.

"Elena. Now" he demanded before taking off in a run for the house leaving Katherine behind as bemused as ever. Shrugging she ran after him, nearly crashing right into him when she got in the door as he stood there staring at the pool of blood on the wood in a trance.

"Damon" Katherine said gently placing a hand on his arm, "She's fine" she reminded him.

**Elena's POV**

"Damon" Elena cried as she looked up and saw him standing at the door looking like he was going to have an emotional breakdown.

At the sound of her voice Damon snapped his head up and less than a second later they collided into each other's arms.

"I'm so sorry...so sorry 'Lena" he whispered into her ear, "Wasn't paying attention, so sorry"

"Shh, shh, I'm all right, it's okay Damon" Elena responded pulling back slightly.

Damon pushed her away from him, looking her up and down and lifting the blood-stained sweater she was wearing over her head. He ran his hands over her side, confirming that she was fine over and over again until finally she pulled his hands away and forced him to look at her.

Her heart broke as she saw the unshed tears glistening in his eyes and she pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"I'm okay Damon, we're okay" she promised him, "Stefan got us blood, Katherine...what happened Damon? We need to sit down and talk about this okay?" she directed him towards the couch as he nodded numbly.

"Stefan, Katherine" Elena shouted behind her slightly panicked as Damon sat mutely on the couch.

"We're here Elena" Katherine said quietly from behind her, she was kneeling by the pool of blood by the door trying to clean it up before it stained the wood.

"Stefan can you get Damon more blood please?" Elena asked and Stefan rushed off to the basement again before returning with his brother's blood in a glass.

Elena pressed the glass into Damon's hand and knelt down in front of him.

"Damon look at me, look at me please" she begged until he forced his head up to meet her eyes.

"What happened baby?" she asked quietly.

**Damon's POV**

"I...I don't know really. I got out of the car and I wasn't, I just wasn't thinking or paying attention. I was too caught up in thinking about my conversation with Ric this afternoon to focus on anything. So stupid" he muttered the last part under his breath.

Shaking his head he continued "Next thing I know I'm on the ground with a vervain laced stake in my side and a vampire standing over me about to stake me, then Miss Katherine over there came to the rescue and killed him" he smiled at Katherine "Guess I owe you one" he said with a small smirk.

"We'll call it a freebie this time" Katherine teased him gently.

Pulling Elena up on to his lap he buried his face in her hair "Knew this was gonna happen" he mumbled to no-one in particular.

"Damon don't" Elena chided, "we don't even really know what happened, it might have nothing to do with you"

Damon barked a laugh out, "when does it ever **not** have something to do with me Elena?"

"Elena, why don't you come with me and we can get you cleaned up and fresh clothes" Katherine spoke up as she noticed the tension rolling off of Stefan in spades. She knew he wanted to speak to his brother alone.

Elena jumped up off of Damon and nodded in agreement and with one last final squeeze of his hand she took off upstairs with Katherine.

"Go ahead brother, purge, unleash your fury – but don't think for a second that you can make me feel any worse than I already do" Damon said with a sigh looking up at his brother.

Stefan flopped himself down onto the chair opposite Damon.

"I don't want to make you feel worse Damon" he said, "I was just...that was terrifying. When she collapsed, the screaming...how could you let...I mean..." Stefan trailed off unsure of how to phrase what he was trying to say without making his brother feel even worse.

"Like I said, I wasn't paying attention I was too caught up in my elaborate schemes" Damon said with a smirk.

"I had a conversation today with Ric about Elena's birthday" he spoke quietly to avoid the girls hearing upstairs, "I'm planning something and I was just caught up in thinking about it so he caught me off guard. Don't worry I won't be so stupid again, trust me" he said with another long sigh.

Stefan nodded and smiled slightly at his brother, "I think in future maybe we should just all try and stick together, at least until we find out if there are any more of them" he suggested.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan Stef" Damon replied, "speaking of, should probably do something with the dead body lying out front, wanna help a brother out?" he asked with a grin as he stood up and headed for the door with Stefan on his heels.

**Elena's POV**

While Stefan and Damon talked things out downstairs Elena jumped in the shower and cleaned off, feeling much more refreshed after the blood and cool water.

Katherine was sitting on the bed flicking through a book when Elena came out of the bathroom looking like she was trying to pretend she hadn't been listening to the conversation happening downstairs.

Elena smiled at her friend, "everything okay down there?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Katherine asked looking a little guilty but Elena just raised her eyebrows at her.

"Oh fine I was listening" Katherine huffed, "I just wanted to make sure they weren't going to tear each other apart" she said with a little laugh, "but they're fine" she assured Elena.

"Stefan was just scared" she added.

"It's not like I've never been hurt before" Elena reminded her.

"No, but seeing you collapse and screaming like that _was_ fairly terrifying, and it's not **just** you anymore Elena. It's his brother as well. Stefan sees it; we **both **see the possibility of being able to lose two of the closest people to us in a split second..." Katherine trailed off and gave a slight shudder, "it's scary" she added.

Elena nodded in understanding. She hadn't really considered it like that before but she realised now that if something did happen to her and Damon then Katherine and Stefan, and all of their other friends, would be losing both of them at once.

Elena shook her head forcefully as if trying to shake the very idea out of her mind, "everything is going to be **fine**" she said definitively.

"Why did you go after Damon?" she asked Katherine, it had seemed strange to her at the time that Katherine had gone to help Damon and Stefan had stayed to help her.

"Older and stronger" Katherine replied with a grin. "**Much **older and much stronger actually" she clarified with a flash of her eyes.

"Come on let's go back downstairs, the boys have gone to dispose of the body and I could do with something to drink...something strong I should think" Katherine said with a laugh as she jumped up off of the bed.


	6. Drive

**A/N: I do not own TVD. All rights to those who do. I feel like I've been a little negligent towards this story and for that I am sorry to those of you reading but I promise that no matter what I will finish it because I don't start things and then abandon them halfway through. It might just take me a little while. In the meantime thank you to those of you reading and reviewing etc. I hope you continue to enjoy it all the same. **

**Drive**

"**Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there  
With open arms and open eyes"**

**Damon's POV**

_Fucking damn it all to hell_ Damon thought to himself as he walked back into the house behind Stefan with a scowl on his face. Elena and Katherine were sitting on the sofa drinking red wine and giggling over something or other but the noise abruptly stopped when they caught a glimpse of the matching look on both brothers' faces.

"What's wrong Damon?" Elena asked jumping up off of the couch and making her way over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in for a hug and for a second he allowed himself to relax into her embrace before stepping back.

"Bodies gone" he muttered angrily.

"What do you mean it's **gone**?" Katherine demanded.

"I mean what I said. It. Is. Gone" Damon ground out, "Vanished into thin air, disappeared, evaporated, departed, who the hell knows Katherine, I don't have any other words for 'gone'!" he practically shouted at her.

Katherine raised her hands in surrender while Elena tried to calm Damon down by running her hands along his arm reassuringly.

"There must have been others" Stefan spoke up for the first time, in a much calmer voice than his brother; "watching, I guess" he clarified. "They must have taken the body away when you and Damon came back inside" he spoke with a nod towards Katherine.

"Do you know who it was Damon?" Elena asked him.

"No Elena" Damon replied in a slightly softer tone, "I didn't recognise him, damn it all to hell" he growled out as he strode over to pour himself a drink, topping up Elena's glass he handed it to her with a small smile.

"I knew this was going to happen" he said for what was possible the thirty-eight time, "now you've been hurt and...**God Dammit**" he shouted before turning and throwing his glass into the fireplace.

"Damon, Damon" Elena tried to calm him down again but he just shrugged her off and began pacing angrily across the floor.

"This isn't helping Damon" Katherine interjected after a few minutes of watching Damon get more and more annoyed, "we need to figure out what's going on and how we're going to fix it, there's no point in getting all worked up over it!" she snapped at him.

"No point..." Damon trailed off angrily before snapping his head to glare at Katherine. "No point getting all worked up over it?" he demanded. "We could have been _killed_ Katherine" he shouted at her, "and I don't know who or why or where or when I don't know anything and I can't...**think **properly because I can't..._protect_ her and it's..." Damon looked around the room, his gaze landing on Elena sadly before sinking down onto the couch and holding his head in his hands with a low sigh.

**Elena's POV**

"Damon" Elena said quietly as she made her way across the room, she hopped onto the couch and straddled herself on his lap before tilting his head up and forcing him to look into her eyes.

"It's going to be okay" she said softly, "we've dealt with everything this world has to throw at us and we're still here, we're together, we're alive...ish, we always survive Damon, somehow or another, and we'll survive this too, the same way we always do, together" she pressed a light kiss to his lips and waited for him to respond, which he did, by burying his face into her neck.

For minutes Elena just held Damon to her as he calmed down and breathed her in, she always knew exactly what he needed, how to talk him down from the edge, how to stop him from allowing his anger to consume him and throw him into doing something reckless and dangerous.

Eventually Damon pulled back from his hiding place and looked at her again, nodding his head once.

"Okay" he said with a deep breath, "we'll figure it out."

"But I'm going to have Sabrina working even harder now to figure out a way out of this, you know that, right?" he asked her in a determined voice.

Elena huffed out a sigh and jumped off of him.

"Damon you have got to get this through your head, I don't _want_ to be unbound, I'm not scared of dying Damon, I'm only scared of living without you. And I really doubt there's even a way to do it any way so you're just wasting everyone's time by trying" she said angrily.

"And I **know** you want to protect me, but you forget that I can protect myself these days as well. I'm not the fragile little human girl anymore, I don't need to be saved and rescued all the time, I'm not a china doll Damon, I'm a vampire now and I can help take care of myself" Elena knew she was being harsh but it was high time everyone stopped treating her like she was made of glass, she was getting sick of it.

Had in fact, been sick of it when she _was_ human as well although she had understood it more then, but now, she didn't want to be a burden to carry anymore, she could fight back now, help protect Damon, her friends, herself. And she'd be damned if anyone tried to stop her.

**Damon's POV**

Damon sat silently for a few minutes after Elena's outburst willing himself not to get angry again, he understood what she was saying, but it wasn't something that he even had time to consider right now or wanted to get into a conversation about.

"Elena" he began softly, "now is not the time to be talking about this. Right now we need to decide what to do, we need a plan, we need to figure out what the hell is going on and how the hell we're going to fight it okay?"

Eventually Elena nodded her head in agreement, "but this conversation is far from over Damon" she reminded him pointedly before calling for Stefan and Katherine to come back and join them.

"So what's the plan?" Katherine asked as she poured herself another drink before flopping down onto the chair beside Damon and Elena.

"Don't have one yet but I'm thinking it's going to involve some good old fashioned staking and heart snatching" he said with a grin which Katherine responded to with a wicked smile of her own, causing both Elena and Stefan to groan audibly.

"What?" Katherine and Damon both demanded at the same time with mock-glares at their respective partners.

"Nothing, nothing" Elena teased Damon, "I was just thinking that maybe, for once, we were going to get a break from all the drama but alas, no such luck" she said with a sigh.

"Not in Mystic Falls anyway" Stefan added with a laugh, "hopefully our luck will turn when we get to Italy, but first we have to deal with the problem here" he said seriously.

"So what's the first step?" Elena asked turning to Damon for guidance.

"First step's the easiest" he replied.

"Send a message Elena, group effort, get everyone here first thing in the morning. We can reconvene then and come up with steps B through Z, tell Bonnie to bring her cookbooks, might come in handy at some point..." he trailed off realising that there was nothing further that could be done this night.

Standing up from the couch and stretching out his limbs he pulled Elena up beside him while she typed out the message on her phone.

"Done" she said with a smile, "I told them to arrive at 9am"

"Ooooh so early!" Katherine moaned with a pout which made Elena laugh.

"Sorry" Elena giggled, not sounding apologetic at all.

Damon grabbed her hand and they said goodnight to Katherine and Stefan before heading upstairs to the sanctuary of their bedroom and locking themselves away from the storm brewing for one night.

Being with Elena made Damon forget about everything else, his worries and troubles and concerns fell away until all that mattered was Elena and her love, and his love, and one massive bed where he showed her over, and over how much he loved her.


	7. Loud Like Love

**A/N: Hi folks! *Waves* Soooo, I'm not really sure whether there's much point in continuing this story, as I said I know I've been a little lax in posting and I do plan on rectifying that but if no-one is reading it then there's probably no point in finishing writing it. That being said, if you are reading it then please, pretty, pretty please leave me a review. Here be Chapter 7. I do not own TVD. **

**Loud Like Love**

"**Breathe, Breathe, Breathe, Believe  
That We Are Loud Like Love"**

First thing in the morning found Elena, Stefan and Katherine waiting in the living room for their friends to arrive, and for Damon to appear from wherever he had been hiding himself for the last hour. Having had a restless night's sleep he had taken himself off to a quiet part of the house, presumably to clear his head and get into planning mode.

"It's always Mystic Falls, isn't it?" Katherine grumbled while they were waiting. "This place is a death trap I swear to God. Maybe we should just stay in Italy" she said with a laugh while Stefan nodded his head in agreement.

Elena let out a puff of exasperation, she hadn't been lying when she'd said that she hoped they would get to live for a little while with no drama, sure the dramatics were exciting and had basically become the 'new normal' but it would have been nice to have gone...at least a year...without having to deal with any of it she thought to herself.

Just as Elena opened her mouth to respond to Katherine the front door burst open and their friends voices spilled into the house.

"Good morning" Caroline shouted, chipper as always. "Through here" Stefan shouted back equally cheerfully.

Elena looked around at her friends as they all took a seat and smiled at Caroline's ever present bag of tricks, or, bag of notepads, pens, post-it notes and whatever else it was she thought they needed to plan the newest 'save everyone' mission in their lives.

"Where's Bonnie?" Elena asked her brother.

**Damon's POV**

"Where's Sabrina?" Damon demanded as he strode into the living room and took in the faces of everyone that had arrived, noting immediately the absence of the witch.

"I'm right here Damon" Bonnie replied breathlessly as she rushed into the house clutching bags of books in her hands.

"Sorry, I forgot one of the books I needed" she explained before raising an eyebrow at him and going on "and you would think, after 3 months of only each other for company we'd have gotten to the stage where you can call me by my name" she said throwing a mock glare at him.

"Sorry...Bonnie. When I get into 'hero-mode' the nicknames come out in force" Damon replied with a strained smile, but his words had the desired effect and everybody laughed, lightening the tension in the air.

Elena patted the seat next to her, indicating for Damon to come and sit beside her but he just shook his head lightly at her and started pacing the floor.

"Okay" he said after a few minutes of restless pacing.

"The deed to the house is in Jeremy's name, which is good, great even. It means no vampire can enter uninvited, but that doesn't mean we're all automatically protected. I think that for the foreseeable future you should all move in here" he said looking at Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy and Ric individually.

Caroline and Ric both nodded their assent but Jeremy wasn't so happy with the idea.

"No way man. Bonnie and I will stay in our house, no vampires can get in there either and I don't really...um...I mean...anyway" he trailed off looking at Bonnie for help in explaining why he didn't want to move back into the Salvatore house.

"Jeremy is right Damon" Bonnie said quietly, "we will be fine in my house, only the vampires in this room have been invited in and it's probably...safer" she supplied "for Jeremy to continue living with me anyway"

Damon was still looking at Jeremy with a bemused look on his face, what was the big deal about moving into the house? Surely he wasn't still worried that he'd kill them all in his sleep was he? But he wasn't about to get into an argument with him or Bonnie about it, if they really didn't want to stay in the house then that was fine.

"Okay fine, whatever you want. But you both need to be here first thing every morning, and Little Gilbert will still have to do 'invite' duties when needed"

"Ric, Stefan and I will be on recon; we'll spend the next few days looking around town, see if we can't find anything out of the ordinary...or out of the ordinary for Mystic Falls anyway" he grumbled.

Damon took a deep breath before adding the next part of his plan, he knew this bit probably wouldn't go down well but he had to do it anyway.

"Bonnie, Caroline" he looked at both girls "Keep looking for something. Anything. I **want **this spell broken" he looked at Elena briefly enough to catch the look of pure contempt that flashed through her eyes and was about to speak up again in the hopes of preventing a fight when Bonnie cut in.

"Damon...I mean, we've already been through all of the books, there's nothing"

"Then look **again**" he snapped angrily and Bonnie nodded her head while Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Our only advantage" Damon said with a wry smile, "Ironically enough, is Katherine" he said nodding his head towards her. "These, whoever they are, will be confused; they won't know Katherine from Elena, or Elena from Katherine or who the heck is who. Which means that _Elena_" he said turning to look at her for the first time since the previous conversation, "You'll have to stay inside for the time being"

"Fabulous" Katherine grumbled dryly, "I'll be the one who ends up getting staked" she moaned but the hint of amusement in her eyes gave away the fact that she was joking.

**Elena's POV**

Elena sat quietly, getting more and more annoyed with Damon as he went on. His plan was all well and good, at least, parts of it were. But she was getting really sick of having the same argument over and over...and over again, why wouldn't he accept that she wasn't a china doll?

"I will **not** be a prisoner in my own home Damon" she said jumping up off of the couch and stalking over to him.

"Uh-oh" she heard Katherine whisper in the background, "here comes trouble."

Damon raised his hand to Elena's arm when she approached him but she just shrugged him violently off of her.

"No Damon, this is ridiculous. I mean, you're plan is good and all, but first of all you can't use Katherine as bait..."

"Elena" Katherine interjected, "It's not...bait. It's just, uh, distraction" she said trying to help Damon out of the mess he'd gotten himself into.

"Shh! Katherine" Elena said throwing her friend an angry glare before turning back to Damon.

"Damon" she spoke again, trying to soften her voice a little and failing miserable. "I will not be a prisoner in my own home. I am stronger now; I'm a vampire for god sake, just like you, Caroline, Katherine, Stefan, Ric. I can take care of myself. And you know this! You're the one that's been helping Ric train me! I am not a weakling Damon" she ground out angrily, her voice rising until she was shouting at him.

"Elena please" Damon said, trying once again to place his hands on her but again she just shrugged him away.

"I know you're not a weakling, I never said that. And Katherine is right, it's not about using her as bait, I wouldn't do that, it's about creating a distraction" he threw a grateful glance at Katherine who nodded her head in response. "But you **will **stay inside Elena. I know you're stronger now but you're still...the youngest and I will not allow you to risk your life. I will not put you in danger"

"Oh great" Elena cried "so now I'm the weak link because I'm the _youngest?" _she screeched at Damon. "God Damon you are so **full of shit**"

"Elena!" Bonnie gasped and Elena whirled around to face her friend.

"And you" she said pointing her finger at Bonnie "will **stop** looking for a way to break the spell. I am so si_ck _of this. There is **no **way to break it. You know that, I know that, _he _knows that" she paused for a minute before turning back to look at Damon, but this time the look on her face had changed from one of anger to one of unadulterated hurt.

"Unless...unless you're doing it because you really **don't** want to be bound to me...is that what this is, Damon? Maybe it's not even about these vampires that are trying to kill us all **again**. Maybe it's just **you**, or maybe...maybe it's just me. So tell the truth Damon, what is it? Because if it's not what you want...if **I'm **not what you want then I think you better tell me right fucking now" Elena knew she was being irrational, but she couldn't stop the doubts from surfacing. Every time Damon mentioned breaking the spell, and he did, frequently, those doubts crept back in again.

The thought that it wasn't because he was worried about her getting hurt or worse, but that it was actually because he couldn't bear the idea of being bound to her forever. That maybe he thought _they _weren't forever. These thoughts had Elena crying once more, irritated with herself she wiped angrily at her face.

It wasn't supposed to go this way, she'd just meant to say her piece and be done with it, she hadn't meant to go so far and now all of her friends were gawking at her with varying looks of surprise and shock and Damon looked at her as if she'd grown a new head all of a sudden but he didn't say a word.

For minutes Elena and Damon stood staring at each other, Damon still refusing to speak and Elena refusing to give him the satisfaction of being the first to break the silence, the longer it went on however, the more she convinced herself that she was right.

Eventually Caroline had had enough of the fighting and the tense stare-off between Damon and Elena.

"Uh guys" she said, standing up and clearing her throat uneasily. "We don't even know who we're fighting...but it probably shouldn't be each other."


	8. Love The Way You Lie

**A/N: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If you read please review. **

**Love The Way You Lie**

"**Maybe that's what happens when a  
Tornado meets a volcano  
All I know is I love you too much  
To walk away"**

**Damon's POV**

"_We don't even know who we're fighting...but it probably shouldn't be each other." _

Damon tore his eyes away from Elena to look at Caroline briefly before nodding his head once in agreement. He needed some time to try and make sense of what Elena had just said to him. Did she honestly believe what she'd said? Did she honestly believe that he didn't want to be with her...eternally? That the day she _finally _chose him hadn't been the best day of his very long existence? Damon couldn't bring himself to believe that these things were true.

**He **was the one with the insecurities, he was the one who got scared and lashed out, not Elena, Elena was confident in their love, or she was supposed to be anyway, she was supposed to know, to understand that there was nothing in this world for Damon apart from Elena. How many times had he told her that?

Damon knew now wasn't the time for grand romantic speeches though, Caroline was right, right now they needed to be united, to figure out what was going on and who was behind it. To continue with the plan. And he definitely wasn't going to go in for big romantic speeches in a room full of their friends and family.

Reaching out he took Elena's hand in his own, thankful that this time she let him touch her, and squeezed gently before bringing her hand to his lips and setting a gentle kiss against her knuckles before dropping it again. She sighed lightly and flopped herself back down onto the couch with a nod that signified their fight was far from over but it would be put aside for the moment.

Finally turning to reply to Caroline Damon shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know who it is Caroline, it could be a multitude of people for any of the multitude of bad things I've done in my life" he said shooting a slightly guilty look towards Elena.

**Elena's POV**

Elena caught the guilt flash through Damon's eyes as he looked at her after speaking of the 'bad' things he'd done in his life but that was one fight that was most definitely over. She shrugged at him, hoping that the simple gesture was enough for him to understand what she was trying to say.

_Yeah, I know. Don't care; I love you all the same. _

Elena knew that the previous fight would continue later, and would probably rage all night, but Damon's simple hand gesture; the slightest kiss had calmed her down considerably. Being a vampire definitely had its advantages when it came to fighting with Damon. He knew exactly what to do to get her to calm down, and he used it to his full advantage.

As a human he'd crowded her personal space, coming dangerously close, aligning his body perfectly to hers until she could no longer remember what she was fighting about, until she was too focused on trying to calm her ever-increasing heartbeat, until she was drowning in his eyes and her anger had lost its momentum.

But as a vampire, she was faster, stronger; she could shrug him off, run away, dart in between spaces and hold on to her rage better. She knew fine well that Damon was much faster and stronger than she was and if he really wanted to he could be on her in less than a second but for the most part he let her vent her rage and frustrations.

"Okay then" Caroline spoke up again, voice breaking into Elena's thoughts "What's the **worst **thing you've done then Damon?"

**Damon's POV**

Damon looked at Caroline in surprise unsure of what to say, he didn't really _know _what the worst thing he'd ever done was.

"I don't know Blondie, I need time to think okay" he spat out.

Damon was no saint, he'd never claimed to be, he knew he'd done a lot of bad things, but the _worst _things he'd ever done, he could count on one hand. On two fingers. Number one, leaving Enzo to die, but Damon dismissed the thought of Enzo being out for revenge. He'd been brought back to life through Bonnie then promptly disappeared somewhere, Damon was sure he'd turn up eventually but he knew Enzo and this wasn't his style.

And worst thing number two? Well the two people who that involved were sitting in this very room. Elena and Jeremy Gilbert. And Damon was fairly confident that neither of them were out for revenge. As far as anything else was concerned, Damon was going to have to take a little trip down memory lane.

_3 Days Later_

**Elena's POV**

For 3 days Damon, Stefan and Ric had been venturing out into town, searching for anything unusual, any new people in town, anyone who looked just a little...out of place, and they'd found nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Elena was sick and tired of being stuck in the house and she and Damon had come no closer to a resolution to their fight but they had both agreed to shelve it for the time being while focusing on the problem at hand.

Tonight though, it had been decided that the time had come to try and lure them out and Elena steadfastly refused to be left at home alone while everyone else went out to try and provoke the vampires. Damon had eventually given in to Elena's demands and it was decided that the four would go to the Grill which had been restored to its former glory, to try and fool the people hunting them.

Elena would be with Damon and Katherine with Stefan, but they were trying to make people believe that Elena was Katherine, and that's where their friends came in. Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler, Matt, Ric and Jeremy would all be at the Grill as well, in case anyone showed up in which case someone would remain with Elena and take her home safely, and if anyone tried to attack then it would be Katherine who bore the brunt of it.

Elena didn't relish the thought of putting Katherine in danger but as Kat had astutely pointed out she was by far the oldest and strongest vampire of the group and anyone actually getting the upper hand on her was a highly slim probability, especially with Stefan and Damon and everyone else looking out for her.

For 3 nights Katherine and Elena dressed identically, their charade thoroughly confusing most of their friends, except Damon, of course. Although Stefan was slowly getting much better at recognising the subtle differences between the two girls. For 3 nights they paraded around Mystic Falls, drinking, laughing uproariously at the Grill, shooting pool and generally trying to draw attention to themselves. And for 3 nights nothing worked. Nothing happened.

On the third night Elena was feeling highly dejected as the group travelled home in Damon's new car, "what are we going to do now?" she asked, turning to face Damon. "We can't just do this forever" she added with a frustrated sigh.

"I know" Damon responded, taking her hand in his.

**Damon's POV**

"Someone's following us" Stefan spoke up from the backseat causing Katherine to twist her head to look out the back window. "Don't" Stefan admonished her as Damon started speeding up.

"Let's just get out and kill whoever it is right now" Katherine said gleefully earning her a smirk from Damon.

"No" he said, "Let them follow...how many Stef?" he asked his brother

"Just...one I think" Stefan replied, clearly confused. "Makes no sense" he added, "first they only send one to try and kill you, now there's one following us, but there are clearly more of them...makes no sense" he repeated.

Damon raised his eyebrows in confusion and agreement with what Stefan was saying. He was right, it didn't make any sense, and he was getting more frustrated than ever at not knowing who the hell it was that was actually trying to kill him this time. He'd thought for days about who it could be and he was no closer to finding a resolution.

Pulling into the driveway he warned the others to sit quietly for a few minutes as he observed the surrounding areas, finding nothing he jumped out of the car and sped around to Elena's side, pulling her out of the car and into the house before she had time to blink.

Katherine and Stefan came trailing behind, Katherine glancing over her shoulder every few seconds checking for threats but nothing was forthcoming.

"What's this?" Katherine asked, picking up a white envelope from the doorway, "Damon Salvatore" she said, reading the name on the front and handing it over to Damon.

Damon eyed the envelope warily for a moment before taking it from Katherine's outstretched hand and turning it over and around in his own for another minute.

"Well open it for God's sake" Katherine demanded, "It's not going to explode"

"How do _you _know?" Elena asked with a giggle and Katherine glared at her.

Damon ripped open the envelope and pulled out the note within.

"_Meet at the Quarry.  
Friday night - 1am.  
Come alone" _

"Bloody hell" Damon groaned after reading the note out loud.


End file.
